Two Stories and One Meaning

Let me tell you two stories from mythology.

Krishna atop Kaliya

When Lord Krishna was young, during his stay in Vrindavan, he and his friends used to go to play in the banks of the river Yamuna. Around that time, the water of the river was poisoned due to the presence of a deadly naga, known as Kaliya. Nobody could use the waters of the river and all marine life was either dead or driven away due to the poison of Kaliya. Kaliya was a ten headed snake and had been driven away from its home with his family due to its enmity with Garuda, the traditional enemy of all serpents. Once, Krishna while playing near the banks of the river, jumped into the river to fetch a ball which had fallen in the river, which to the onlookers seemed nothing less than suicidal. Deep in the river bed, the boy Krishna challenged the serpent which resulted in a battle between the unequal’s – i.e. the boy Krishna and the mighty ten headed snake. But soon the divine Krishna overpowered the snake and on the request of Kaliya’s wives, allowed them to go alive from there, but not before the people of Vrindavan saw the boy Krishna dance atop the hooded Kaliya.

A Vase painting of Hecules slaying the Hydra

The other story is from the Greek myth of Hercules and his adventures. As part of the adventure, Hercules had to undergo twelve tasks and this story pertains to his second task. According to this myth, Hercules had to kill a water serpent with many heads, known as Hydra, which was threatening the nearby villagers. Hercules was the son of Zeus and one of his mortal lovers, while the Hydra was the result of the mating between a monster and a creature which was half snake and half woman. The major difficulty in killing the hydra was that if one of its head was cut, then two more would grow in its place, and one of the heads was immortal. To cut short the adventure, Hercules managed to kill the many headed monstrous snake by scorching the stump of the snake after cutting off each head before two could grow out there. Finally the immortal head was cut off with a golden sword and the same was put under a giant boulder, so that it could never raise its head again.

Both the stories have a few things common and that is the many headed snake raising its hood to harass people and that it needed heroes to either control or kill them, both to eliminate the threat to mankind. Both the stories, details the acts of heroism and the battle of unequal. Both the animals were powerful and poisonous and in the earlier case the hero was a boy and in the second case, the hero was a mere mortal (though aided with divine intervention).

Both these stories, though from different cultures, have a bearing on today. Today a fragile old man is fighting the menace of a many headed monster whose name is no more Kaliya or Hydra, but Corruption. The hero is not as divine as Krishna or as heroic as Hercules, but a frail old man with no bearings or trappings of a hero, rather a rustic simpleton called Anna Hazare. His war against corruption is not going to be what Krishna faced in Yamuna or Hercules faced in a mythical island. His war is tougher – what with the heads of the monster having spread all over the country. If he slays one, many come up elsewhere. If he tries to cut off one head, all the other heads come and hold him with ten times more power than earlier. The modern Hydra has thousands of heads and a lonely Hazare or his immediate circle of friends cannot to the mighty task. It is a battle of unimaginable inequality. He needs all of us, from every nook and corner of the country to support him and stand by him. Hazaare needs hazzaron (thousands) hands to kill the monster.

Come one, come all and support the crusade against corruption. Let’s leave a clean country for our children. Let’s cleanse the Vrindavan of the  poison spewed by the many headed monster called corruption perpetrated by the very people whom we have entrusted with governance, both past and present.

AK Ramanujan's essay.

Many of the readers of my Blog have asked for the Original essay by AK Ramanujan.

For all who are interested in reading the full text, please click on the link given below -

“Three Hundred Ramayanas: Five Examples and Three Thoughts on Translation.”  http://www.sacw.net/IMG/pdf/AKRamanujan_ThreeHundredRamayanas.pdf

Part 4 – Ramayana a Tribal version

(This is not from AK Ramanujan’s essay. I have taken this up from my study on Tribal Mythology, but is relevant to our present series on the different versions of the epic, Ramayana)

A Gond painting depicting Ramkatha

The Gonds are amongst the prominent tribes of Central India. One of their sub-tribe is the Baiga tribe. Both the tribes have a rich collection of folklores and stories, many of which have been collected and published by the likes of Verrier Elwin and Durga Bhagvat. The following folklore is from one of the stories collected by Durga Bhagvat as told to her by a Gond from Mandla in Madhya Pradesh, and is more commonly known as “The Lachhman Jati”.

Before we get into the synopsis of a long story, it must be understood that the prime deity of these tribes was Mahadeo, who is depicted in the form of Shiva – here Ram is not a prominent deity. Further, the hero of this version is Lakshaman, (referred to as Lachhaman) and not Ram, and Sita is not the chaste woman as is the case of all the versions of Ramayana known to us!

According to this folktale, Ram is playing dice with Mahadeo and on a particular day, he has forgotten his dice at home. Ram sends Lachhaman to his hut to go and bring the dice for him. When Lachhaman goes to get the dice, Sita is at home alone. Sita is enamoured with Lachhaman and is secretly in love with him. She asks Lachhaman to spend some time with her, but Lachhaman, a staunch celibate, does not agree to her evil designs. Sita is insulted and bolts the door trying to hold him in the room. But Lachhaman, breaks open the door and leaves.

Sita is angry at this denial and decides to avenge the insult. She tears up her saree, and breaks her necklace and sits disheveled waiting for Ram. When Ram comes home, he sees the broken door and the disheveled Sita. On asking, Sita tells him that Lachhaman tried to make love to her! Ram gets angry and beats up Lachhaman. When Lachhaman pleaded his innocence, he was asked to prove his innocence by jumping into boiling oil. Lachhaman, come out of the oil absolutely unscathed, but feels insulted at not being asked and given a chance to explain. He leaves the hut in penance. He goes on a long expedition and this takes him through a series of adventure where the story keeps taking its twists and turns, all to show his heroism and brave acts.

The story has a dramatic end. After Lachhaman leaves his brother and wife, they fall in hard times. Ram had to take up work with a potter and Sita had to collect fuel from the forest. When the heroic Lachhaman returns home he sees them in a sorry state and feels very bad. He changes everything and the old glory is brought back and in the end Lachhaman asks everybody that from then onwards, people should take the name of Ram with the same respect as Mahadeo!

The above is a very concise version of the story and a few notable differences here are as follows –

y    As mentioned earlier, Ram is not the hero, rather the characterization of both Ram and Sita is quite poor to the extent that towards the end Ram is even punished by having to work as a menial at the potters and Sita is made to collect sticks in the jungle.

y    Sita is quite contrary to what we have read till now and is shown here as scheming and has her sight on Lachhaman, her brother-in-law. It is important to mention here that in the tribes of Central India, illicit relationship between a woman and her brother-in-law (devar-bhabi) is quite common and there are a number of folk-songs which mention this relationship both overtly and covertly. This is also a common theme of many folk-stories across the belt. This could just have been taken up to show the relationship in bad light and condemn it – what many scholars term as the ‘process of sanskritisation’ whereby people try to follow the norms of the civilized society by giving up their uncivilized and unacceptable behaviour.

y    There is no mention of Ravana here, though during the course of Lachhaman’s adventure, some evil characters are mentioned, but bear no semblance to Ravana.

y    Hanuman is a minor character here with no major role to play, but has been mentioned nevertheless to bear some resemblance to the original. However there is a mention of Bhima (of Mahabharat epic) meeting Hanuman, which again is a reference to the Puranic myth.

y    Finally, the trial and tribulations that Lachhaman has to undergo is very common to the hardships that the tribals undergo on a regular basis. Their nomadic lifestyles, their need for land and the regular movement due to afforestation and famine are a constant test on their endurance. In the entire adventure of Lachhaman, he comes across one hardship after another, which he overcomes nonetheless. It is this aspect of the story which has been assimilated well by the tribals.

Please note that there are different versions of the aspect which led to Lachhaman leaving for his adventure, but I have mentioned only one. Some later versions have changed the seduction by Sita to that by Indrakamini, an apsara from Indrasabha – this could be again due to the acceptance of Ram and Sita in the present religious context.

Once again, a classic case of assimilation and adaptation as per ones cultural milieu. What is surprising here is the change of roles. In the original, it is Sita who has to prove her innocence, but here it is Lakshaman. In the original, it is Ram who is the hero, whereas, in this, it is Lakshaman who is the hero and Ram is a poor shadow of what he is known for. Also, Lakshaman is a tragic hero, who suffers in silence and during his adventure too he goes through lot of trouble, but endures it all. This is the main aspect of the assimilation where every tribal member in the audience empathises with the character based on their own condition.

Times have changed and there has been an improvement in the condition of the tribals – but the tale is recorded for the sake of posterity. It does not hurt sentiments, but gives way to debate. Such tales have been told and retold – this has not diminished the status of the epic or the central characters of the epic. Such adaptations only give us a window to the world of the particular culture – nothing beyond.

People who indulge in politics with such tales are sheer cultural-opportunists who have nothing to do with literature. They are insecure and in such protests, they actually undermine the strength of such works of literature. So many versions, have not diluted the effect of such epics and awful politicization of the epic has not enhanced the status either.

Discussions and debates are the hallmark of any progressive society. Unfortunately our illiterate political brethren are stone deaf to such discourses.

Part 3 – Thai Ramayana

In Thailand there are many versions of Ramayana, however the two most influential versions are known as Ramakirti (the glory of Rama) and Ramakien (Rama’s story).  The storyline and the chain of events are more or less similar to that of Valmiki’s Ramayana – what is different here is the treatment given to some events and some characters. We will delve on those differences.

The epic Ramayana seems to have had the most impact on the Thai culture to the extent that many in Thailand do not even acknowledge that the Ramayana is an Indian epic. They identify the epic with their ancestors and consider it to be their own. The impact of Ramayana is so strong that one can find paintings depicting scenes from the epic on the Buddhist temples and their dance dramas are generally based on Ramayana!

A stage adaptation of Ramkien in Thailand

In the Thai Ramayana, the epic opens with the creation of the humans, the demons and the simians. The epic more or less follows the storyline created by Sage Valmiki. However, there are some notable differences as identified by AK Ramanujan. Let us go through some of them –

y    The banishment of Sita is very dramatic in the Thai version. According to this, the daughter of Surpanakha has grown up and is waiting to avenge the insult of her mother. She takes up service as a maid in the inner chambers of Sita and befriends her in due course of time. At one point of time, she induces her to draw a picture of Ravana, which is indelible (in some versions, it comes to life in Sita’s bedroom) and forces Ram’s attention. Ram is enraged and orders the killing of Sita, but Lakshaman leaves her in the jungle.

y    The birth of Sita too is different here. According to this version, when Dasharath performs his sacrifice, he receives a rice ball (not the rice payasam, as in Valmiki’s version). A crow steals some of the rice ball and gives it to Ravana’s wife, who eats it and delivers a baby girl, who according to a prophesy, would be responsible for the death of Ravana. Ravana then throws the baby Sita in the sea, but the sea god protects her and gives her to King Janaka. Though this is different from the original, there is a commonality in the idea of Sita being Ravana’s daughter with many other Indian versions.

y    Another important aspect of the Thai Ramayana is that it does not focus on the emotional aspects of Ramayana – longing, pain, separation, etc. as is the case with many Indian versions. The Thai version focuses more on the Yuddhakanda, or the war portion and the abduction of Sita. The descriptions of the battle scenes along with the techniques, the weapons find an elaborate mention. According to scholars, this is due to the fact that the early Thai history is full of war and strife and the entire focus then was more on survival. The same has found focus in their rendition of the epic. Another classic case for assimilation of the epic.

y    In the entire epic, though Ram is an incarnation of Vishnu, he is shown as subordinate to Shiva. Also, he is depicted as a human hero and not the godly avatar. Further, the Thai audience enjoy the character of Hanuman more than that of Ram (a far cry from any of the versions being discussed). In the Thai version, Hanuman is neither a celibate nor as devout as in other versions. Rather he is shown as a mischievous element and quite a ladies-man, who doesn’t think twice before peeping into the bedrooms of people during his maiden visit to Lanka, which would be a taboo for any of the Indian versions.

y    Finally the character of Ravana too is different here. In the Thai version of Ramakirti, Ravana is admired for his learning and his abduction of Sita is seen as an act of love and is not looked down upon, even if she is someone else’s wife! Thai audience are impressed by Ravana’s sacrifice of his people and kingdom for the love of a woman. His dying words are a subject of a famous love poem, written during the 19^th century. The death of Ravana is a sad event, and not an act of celebration as in the case of Valmiki’s version.

This might be sacrilegious to many, but this has to be seen in the light of the fact that the Thai’s like their characters as humans, who are a combination of good and evil. They don’t believe in ‘perfect’ characters like the ones created by Valmiki, but like them with a blend of human emotions which range from love, sacrifice and a bit of mischievous devilry!

Next we will read about the tribal version of Ramayana

Part 2 – Ramayana from the Jain Texts

According to AK Ramanujan’s essay, the Jain texts disregard the fantastic elements of Valmiki’s version of Ramayana. Here the epic starts with the raising of doubts on the extravagant parts of the epic – how could monkeys vanquish a strong and intelligent Ravana, how could someone like Kumbhakarna sleep for six months, etc. The Jain version does not start with the introduction of Ram, but with Ravana.

It talks about Ravana and his greatness and the fact that he was a devotee of the Jain masters. During one of his great siege, he comes to know that he is destined to die because of a woman, by the name of Sita. Later he meets Sita, abducts her and tries in vain to win her favour, but does not and is killed in a battle that follows, as is the original version. In some other texts, Sita is Ravana’s daughter, but Ravana does not know about it and later she is responsible for his death.

Another important aspect of the Jain texts is that it is not Ram who kills Ravana, rather it is Lakshaman who kills Ravana. This is because Ram is an evolved soul and was in his last mortal birth and thus cannot commit any crime. It was thus left to Lakshaman to do so.

Another very important distinction of the Jain texts is that their version is devoid of the elements of fantasy. There are no miracles and no acts of disbelief and the reason is that the Jains consider themselves as rationalists and are not prone to such extravaganza which is unbelievable. Their heroes can be heroic, but not unbelievably so. Further, the idea of Ravana with ten heads has been explained differently, rather rationally. According to the Jain texts, when Ravana was born, his mother was given a necklace with nine gems, which she put on Ravana’s neck. When she did so, she could see his reflection in the nine gems and thus she named him “Dasamukha” – ten-faced. Further it also goes on to explain, that the monkeys were not really monkeys, but a clan of ‘celestials’ who had a monkey as their emblems on their flags.

Some versions say that Dasharatha had four wives as against Valmiki’s version of three wives. Further, some versions even say that Ram had four wives, Maithili (i.e. another name for Sita) being one of the wives. This aspect of Ram is contrary to any of the other versions across the world. Further, after Rama abandons Sita, she renounces the world and becomes a Jain ascetic, again a different ending for Sita, but something that the Jains can understand and relate with.

There are many more differences which are beyond the scope of such an article, so I have highlighted only a few of them. The idea is to impress upon the fact that the text has reached out to a wider audience only after it has been made understandable within a cultural or a social milieu. If not done, then the text would be that much more alien to a group of people as the life of Archies (from the famous Archies comics) to a group of youngsters from a remote village in the district of Bolangir, Orissa, about 30-40 years back.

Next we will read about the Thai version of Ramayana

Part 1 – Ramayanas from South India

Ramayana is an epic written by Sage Valmiki. But as is the case for any work of literature, it undergoes changes and adaptations. In oral tradition, the characters undergo a transformation based on the orators understanding and his/her own personality and preference. The same is the case in writing too. In such a scenario, it is quite understandable to find different versions of Ramayana based on the writer’s cultural upbringing and milieu. Just as every generation has its own take and preference, so does every writer who is re-writing the epic for his/her audience.

This adaptation only leads to a newer audience which associates itself better to the epic and thus starts relating to the same. The original English movie “Sound of Music” has seen so many Indian adaptations – be it Gulzar’s “Parichay” or the different versions in Bengali cinema and many others, besides the stage adaptations. Each took it on itself to make changes in characters to suit the understanding of its audience and the cultural setting. Same can be said about Shakespearean plays and many short stories by O’Henry or Dostoyevsky or Maupassant. Closer home, we have seen different versions of Saratchandra Chatterjee’s “Devdas”, of which I have seen at least four Hindi versions and two Bengali versions myself!

Ramayana is no different, except that its age has given it more versions than any other epics.



Tamil poet Kamban



Valmiki’s Ramayana is considered to be the oringal and all other versions are thus meta-Ramayanas. However, in South India, Kamban’s Ramayana has given rise to other versions like that of Telegu and Malayalam versions. Needless to say that Kamban’s version has been close to the Valmiki’s version with a minor difference. In Valmiki’s version Ram was not a god, but a human form of god who took birth on earth and ‘died’ a mortal. He was an avatar of Lord Vishnu who took the human form to eliminate the evils of earth and depart once the objective was achieved. However, Kamban’s influence was of the Tamil Bhakti movement and in his version, Ram was a god on a mission to eliminate evil from earth. Kamban also uses a lot of folk-motif in this rendition of the epic, again not found in Valmiki’s Ramayana.

In a folk-version of the Kannada Ramayana, the entire Ramayana is Sita-centric. The epic opens with Ravana (Ravalu, in this version) and his wife Mandodhari pining for a child. Here after a lot of penance, Ravalu and his wife are given a mango to share equally, but Ravalu ends up eating the whole mango with just the seed left for his wife. With a twist in the tale, it is Ravalu who ends up conceiving Sita and Sita comes out of his nose through a sneeze (in Kannada, the word Sita means ‘he sneezed’). Later he leaves Sita in King Janak’s field where she is found in a furrow (once again, in Sanskrit, Sita means ‘furrow’). The epic moves on, but at every step, the epic returns to Sita, her birth, her marriage, her abduction, saving her from Lanka and then again her misery, the birth of her children, etc. This return to Sita every now and then is a far cry from many versions which is very Ram-centric and this again could be due to the orators focus on the state of women in the culture he belonged to.

According to A K Ramanujan, the birth of Sita from a male could also be a case of “male-envy of the womb and childbirth, which is a frequent theme, in Indian literature, and an Indian oedipal theme of fathers pursuing daughters”, which is not alien to Indian mythology. According to a Kannada version, Ravana had molested a woman in his youth and she had vowed vengeance and is thus reborn as his daughter leading to his death. This we see that this version has taken a lot of liberty on many a count from the original Valmiki’s Ramayana.

The richness of any literature lies in its ability to get adapted. The rigidity of any epic will only alienate it with its potential audience and that will be its greatest failure. If Ramayana is still read and told in India, then it is because of its ability to touch every generation through its adaptability. This is not the case with other cultures like the Egyptians and the Greeks, who don’t read their mythology as we do in India. You will find Indians with names like Ramkrishna, Lakshmi, Vaidehi, Bharat, etc. But have you found any Greek with names like Zeus, Adonis and Aphrodite or even Hercules and Atlas? Would you find a Thor or Odin or Loki in the Scandinavia today?

It is the adaptability which enables such assimilation.

Next we will discuss the Jain version of Ramayan.

The controversy surrounding AK Ramanujan’s Essay

Who was A. K. Ramanujan –

It is very tough to categorize A K Ramanujan (AKR). He was a poet, an author, translator, folklorist, playwright and a scholar. He was educated in Mysore University and was a Fullbright Scholar at Indiana University. He was also a lecturer at M. S. University of Baroda for about eight years before moving on to US, where he taught at many US Universities, like Harvard, Michigan, Wisconsin, etc.  He was honoured by the ‘Padmashri’ by the Government of India besides the number of accolades that he would have received during his life time. He breathed his last in 1993.

He was also credited for compiling folk-tales from across the country and categorizing them according to topics and analyzing them according to the cultural milieu. It’s a seminal work which is today considered a reference point in the study of folk-literature.

The Essay –

“Three Hundred Ramayanas: Five examples and Three Thoughts on Translations”, written in 1991, is a seminal work on the different versions of Ramayana in our country and abroad. The many diverse versions give it a local flavor and its assimilation in the said culture. But just as India is different every 15kms you travel, so is the interpretation and treatment of the epic. If it is impossible for one to read all the texts in one’s lifetime, then this essay allows you to peep into different versions which give you a view of the diversity in each, maintaining the unity with the original.

Ramayana is written in many of the Indian languages, viz. Hindi, Bengali, Marathi, Gujarati, Tamil, etc. besides many foreign languages like, Malaysian, Sinhalese, Balinese and Thai amongst then being the prominent ones. In Sanskrit itself, there are about twenty-five versions available.

Rishi Valmiki

The main works compared by AKR in this essay are that of the Ramayana written in Sanskrit by Valmiki, the original author of the epic, Kampan’s Ramayana in Tamil, Bengali Ramayana by Krittivasa, Ramayana in Jain texts and the Thai version of Ramayana. The essay brings out the major difference in each of the works and at times also goes on to explain the reasons of difference and how cultural and geographic outlook shapes the changes in the personalities of the central characters.

The Controversy –

The said essay was included in the B.A., History syllabus of Delhi University in the year 2006. ABVP, the youth wing of the BJP sought banning of the said essay as it hurt the religious sentiment of the majority and termed it ‘blasphemous’ and ‘anti-Hindu’, besides many other things not worth mentioning. In 2008, the Delhi High Court directed a four member committee to give its opinion on the inclusion of the essay in the syllabus and the committee gave a 3-1 verdict in favour of inclusion of the essay on the merit of its academic value. The DU Council however, ignored the recommendation of the Committee and in October 2011, decided to bend its knees to the demand of the ABVP and banned the essay.

The Issue –

The issue is deeper than what it seems, not surprising though. It is less to do with anti-Hindu and blasphemy, and more to do with politics – which is the tragedy. The academia has succumbed to the hegemony of politics. This might not have happened for the first time, but that is hardly a solace and neither should it be.

One of the reasons of raising the issue is that the panel which decided on the inclusion of the essay had Ms. Upinder Singh, the daughter of PM, Dr. Manmohan Singh. The move by ABVP was more to embarrass the ruling party than anything else. To avoid another embarrassment for the PM (amongst many) the DU council came to his ‘rescue’ by simply ‘dropping’ the essay as against ‘banning’ it.

In all this politics it is the students who actually stand to lose. Besides being an issue of academic freedom, it is also a case of an effort to control education by a bunch of goons. When illiterates and goons who have nothing to do with academics decide what to teach and study in temples of education then the society is going nowhere except down the tube. Delhi University is not an exception – sometime back we had seen the dropping of a book in Mumbai University sought by the student wing of the Shiv Sena. The Academia protested but nothing worthwhile happened.

In erstwhile Communist Russia and many other societies and cultures, we have seen the banning and systemic-stymying of literature. This stifling of debate will lead to the growth of regressive mindset of a supposedly progressive society. Any culture or progressive societies have to be open to debate and what has been discussed in AKR’s essay is the mindset of different cultures and their views of the epic, which have been written hundreds of years back. Can the Tamil version of Ramayana be banned or can Krittivasa’s Bengali version be banned? The tribal version of Ramayana is a far cry from Valmiki’s Ramayana, but nobody has sought for a ban on that, then why the essay which critically analyses the said versions.

The essay by AKR is about 25 pages of sheer literary genius. In the forthcoming articles I will take up some of the well-known Ramayanas and discuss the difference and the reasons for the same. While doing this, I will be leaning heavily on the essay to bring the work of literary genius to all my readers, which some wayward elements are trying to sabotage.  

Keep reading

Raktabija - the demon

According to the eighth chapter of Devi Mahatmya from Markandeya Puran, there was a demon by the name of Raktabija (blood-seed, literally). He had been given a boon by Lord Brahma that every time a drop of his blood fell on the ground, his strength would increase many times, by his blood creating more of his own. Having received the boon, he had made the life of people on earth miserable.

Goddess Durga was entrusted with the responsibility to eliminate the demon. A fierce battle took place and every time the demon was wounded and his blood dropped on the ground, thousands of demons of his type would be created, thus making the task of killing him near impossible. The battle only got fiercer. Goddess Durga was angry and from her anger and deep concentration was born Goddess Kali. Kali in her fierce form eliminated the huge army and swallowed all of them, which left Raktabija all alone. She then struck the demon and before his blood spilt on the ground, she stretched her huge tongue and devoured all the blood ensuring that not a drop fell on the ground. This way, Raktabija was drained of all the blood and life and soon he was nothing but a corpse.

A Painting depicting the killing of Raktabija by Goddess Kali

The myth has its own symbolism, which I will leave for the time being. Let us look at a modern incident and see if we have a solution the way Goddess Durga had.

Once upon a time, there was a country whose citizens were happy (well, somewhat). A demon named ‘religious tolerance’ started growing from small to big and the nation gave it the boon of secularism and long-drawn judicial system. Soon the demon started multiplying to the effect that one day; it became so big that the nation could not handle the numerous outfits which fired at its own citizens from all over the country. One fine evening, the demon and his army attacked one of the key cities and killed and maimed many innocent citizens. The forces of the nation put up a brave fight and managed to kill majority of them and captured one of the demons.

The system tried the demon for his crimes and declared him guilty after an unnecessarily prolonged trial, which was the result of a ‘thriving modern democracy’. Unlike Raktabija, this demon is still alive and taken care of by the same forces that had once set out to eliminate him. The nation is paying crores from the taxes of the hard- (and hardly)-earned money of its inflation-ridden citizens, the same citizens that the demon tried to kill.

Today, there is no Goddess Durga who can wage a battle and there is no Goddess Kali who can eliminate such demons. May be that is why Raktabija is now alive in the guise of Ajmal Kasab.

Today is 26/11 and three years back this demon had wreaked havoc on Mumbai city.

Mother Kali – where art thou?

Mythology and History - Concluding Part

Allauddin Khilji’s invasion in Gujarat

In the previous two articles, we read about history being a part of the mythological aspects and the myths very clearly had aspects of communal divide, if not, it definitely had differences being highlighted between two countries. We will now look at another example which actually eases the communal divide, but is part of the ongoing theme of mythology and history.

During one of my visits to a temple town, Becharaji, about 100 kms from Ahmedabad, Gujarat, we come across yet another example of History in mythology. Becharaji is a town which is home for the Mother goddess, Bahucharaji. (You can read more about this in “The Third Sex – Part 1”  http://utkarshspeak.blogspot.com/2011/08/third-sex-part-1.html ).

According to one of the myths associated with this goddess, Alauddin Khilji who was on a destructive spree and was demolishing all temples he came across, on his way to Gujarat, reached Siddhpur. The brahmins of Siddhpur were very annoyed and started fasting to please Lord Nilkanth Mahadev. The Sultan asked them to prove the existence of their God, failing which, they would have to adopt Islam as their religion. Goddess Bahucharaji appeared in the dream of a Brahmin named Budar.  “You need not be afraid, bring the king to Chuwala and I will show them a miracle which the Sultan would have never seen”. The Brahmins got together and got the Sultan to Chuwala, but night had fallen by then, so they decided to camp for the night.

The Sultan’s soldiers were tired and hungry. They came across a number of roosters and Khilji ordered them to kill them and eat them for dinner. The rooster was a holy bird (incidentally the rooster is the vahana of the Goddess Bahucharaji), but Khilji would not listen. All the roosters were killed and eaten, except one which hid behind a rock.

Next day morning, the rooster did not crow in the morning. When Bahuchaji asked the rooster as to why it did not crow, the rooster said that all his friends were killed, so who will crow back in his support. Bahucharaji told him to do his work and see. So the rooster crowed. As soon as he did, all the dead roosters came out of the soldiers stomachs and joined the chorus, killing all the soldiers who had eaten roosters the previous night.



A Painting in the temple premises depicting the incident



Needless to say that Khilji did not demolish the Bahucharaji temple, which is still in its original place.

As a mark of respect it is said that till date, in all the 44 villages in and around Becharaji, the Muslims do not kill/eat the Rooster. This is considered something unique and also the only place in India where Muslims do not kill/eat the rooster.

Some of the soldiers who had not eaten the roosters and were thus saved, decided to stay back and not continue with the army. These soldiers who stayed back became firm believers of Bahucharaji and were thereafter referred to as ‘Kamariya’ and are said to be serving the goddess even today. This community of Kamariya’s are not found anywhere in the country, proving that they did not leave Becharaji. (I did come across a person who told us that he was a kamariya and begged for alms – to atone for the deeds of their forefathers.)

To carry on with the above myth, there is another associated myth of the ‘Kamariya’ community. There was a saint by the name of Kumali, who had both Hindus and Muslims as his followers. When he was on his death bed, there arose a conflict on the ritual of the death ceremonies between his followers. To resolve this dispute, the Saint asked the Hindus to prepare a funeral pyre and asked the Muslims to dig a grave. He then said “When I am dead, whichever side my ‘kafan’, (the cloth covering the body) flies off to, will decide on the method of my last rituals”. On his death, the ‘kafan’ flew towards the grave dug, and so he was buried as per the Muslim norms. Though the ‘kamariayas’ are not Hindus, they follow all the Hindu customs and even have a life-style akin to one, but when they die they are buried as per the Muslim norms.

It must be observed that the myth has historic roots. We can trace the invasion of Allauddin Khilji in the books of history and reference to his destructive spree. Though it is not possible to verify such references, one can understand the origin and relevance of such myths.

We also asked a few people around who vouched for the fact that eating chicken was not a common thing there even amongst the Muslims. We did visit the market place in the city and passed through some areas which looked like Muslim habitation, but did not see any shops selling chicken.

What must be seen here is that in the communally charged atmosphere of Gujarat, this does seem to be an anomaly of sorts, but visible to a common man. These should be seen as efforts made by the ancestors of the village, to ensure that the two communities stayed together in peace. Thus despite such bloody references of invasion and looting in the past, there is a close blend of the two communities, and the reference of the ‘kamariya’ community is one such example out in the open for all to see. Also, the fact that people in and around the area do not eat chicken is another classic example of mark of respect shown by the Muslims for the faith and reverence of the Hindus.

Another example of the religious tolerance and goodwill is the fact that the Muslim eunuchs visit the temple during important get-togethers and functions of the eunuch community. This goes on to show the tradition of co-existence in peace by different communities existed from a long time. However, it is a pity to see that the efforts of the ancestors being wasted in modern times.

If any of you have such examples of Mythology and History shaking hands, please send in your myths to the blog. A debate is the essence of such articles.

Mythology and History - Part 2

Mata Tanot Rai Temple

Last time we discussed about the temple of Ghantiali Mata. We now move further.

Idol at the temple

Another 10 Kms from the temple of Ghantiali Mata, is a major tourist attraction, the temple of Mata Tanot Rai. Tanot is a small town which is about 120 Kms from Jaisalmer and is very close to the Indo-Pak Border.

The myths associated with the goddess are many, but we will start at the very beginning. The original and one of the first ones is associated with the self-immolation of Sati on the insult of her husband Shiva. It is said that Shiva had suggested that Sati not visit her father for a Yagna he had hosted and not invited both Sati and Shiva. But Sati did go and on feeling insulted, had thrown herself in the fire of the Yagna. When Shiva came to know about it, he was very upset with the ganas (Charans) he had sent along with Sati for not being able to protect his wife. In his anger he cursed them that they would not go back to heavens with him, and thus deprived them of immortality and the status. The Charans pleaded but Shiva would not hear of it. The Charans then fell on the feet of the dead Sati and started lamenting. A voice came from the dead body of Sati which said that the curse of Lord Shiva had to be borne; however, since it was she who was responsible for their condition, she said that whenever she would be born as a human, she would take birth in the Charan community only. It is said that due to the blessings of Sati, there were numerous births of Sati in the Charan community and there are many minor myths and miracles credited to the goddess. Thereafter the Charans were also referred to as ‘devi-putra’, sons of the goddess.

Later, Shiva took the dead body of Sati and went berserk in his pain and sorrow. Lord Vishnu had no option but to send his sudarshan-chakra, the discus, to sever the body into different pieces. As is well known that a religious site came up in all the places where a part of the body fell. In this region fell Sati’s head, and the place is known as Hinglaj. After Partition, this place now falls in the Balochistan province of Pakistan and the Charan community has converted to Muslim in due course of time. The present temple premises of Tanot Rai Mata is considered to be an extension of the main Shakti-peeth at Hinglaj.

The region is full of small myths associated with different births of Tanot Mata and numerous miracles are associated with the goddess, which is quite a norm associated with any divinity. However, the goddess Tanot Mata has modern day miracles associated with her too.

Unexloded shells kept in display inside the temple

It is said that during the 1965 Indo-Pak war, the Pakistani troops were very close to the temple premises. The Pakistani forces had fired more than 3000 bombs and nearly 450 of them were targeted at the temple. But it was nothing short of a miracle that none of them exploded! Some of the shells have been kept in the temple premises as done in museums (see picture). The temple is close to Longewala, the Indo-Pak border and after the war, the temple was handed over to the Border Security Force (BSF) which till date manages the temple. The BSF has erected a memorial in the temple premises.

The temple has become better known to people outside Rajasthan after it was shown in the Hindi movie “Border”.

Though the locals have their faith and belief in the goddess, the name and fame of the temple and the goddess is thanks to its historical association. No matter what science tells us and teaches us, our emotions are kindled when we hear about the Pak firing and the unexploded shells. It’s more of a tourist attraction than a place of religious sanctity. Also, the myths associated with Hinglaj are a mere association as this is not a Shakti-peeth, but the texts and books available there have mentioned the temple’s ‘association’ with the famous Shakti-peeth which now falls in Pakistan.

The last two temples (i.e. Ghantiali Mata and Tanot Mata) are religious places but have historical association. This is found across the country and many places where some aspect of the divinity shakes hand with history – creating an air of reality which is both believable and assignable to a current date. Is this done out of a purpose or just gets associated due to an accidental occurrence, is tough to prove. But the fact that the association lends credence to the sanctity cannot be undermined.

Even in Greek Mythology, scholars trace the Trojan War to history, but at the same time it has numerous references of gods and goddesses participating in the war.

Finally is it history adding to the truthfulness of mythology or is it mythology lending a religious credence to historical events, is a matter of debate.

Next we will go through one more example of mythology during historical times, but with a difference. The myths do not incite communal tensions, rather promotes communal harmony. Keep reading.

Mythology and History - Part 1

Ghantiali Mata

During a recent visit to Rajasthan, we came across a few temples which seemed to be well-known locally and besides its religious relevance it seemed to have some historic relevance too. The idea of mythology and history shaking hands got me interested and we decided to visit the temples. Today we will discuss the first temple and its historic relevance.

About a 100 kms from Jaisalmer, Rajasthan, is a temple known as the temple of Ghantiali Mata. Amidst white sand and what seemed to a picture-perfect setting was a small temple, which was thronged by locals and a few tourists who stopped there before proceeding further. The temple premises were quite simple and there wasn’t the usual chaos and commotion that goes with many a temple in India. However, we were told that the temple witnesses such crowds during the bi-annual Navratri (the nine-day festival dedicated to goddess Durga).

On reaching the temple, I spoke to the local priest, trying to understand the myths associated with the temple. The priest was more than happy to tell me a brief story. At this place, in the midst of a desert, was a menacing demon, Ghantial, who was harassing the locals. Goddess, Durga, fought a battle and killed the demon at this place and since then, there has been a temple in her honour and is since then referred to as Ghantiali Mata – the goddess who killed the demon Ghantial.

On the walls of the temple, was another story, which too is quite interesting, but seeped in communal overtones and needless to mention was written in a provocative red colour. Briefly, this is what was written. Once the Muslims (mentioned exactly in the same way), killed all the members of a family. The only survivor of the family was a pregnant daughter-in-law who had been to visit her parents and thus was spared. When she came to know that all members of her family were killed, she was grief-stricken and left the village and settled elsewhere and soon delivered a boy. The boy grew up and started going to school and one day came back crying as all her friends were teasing him for not knowing his father’s name. On insisting, the mother broke down and related the story of how his family members were killed before he was born. When the boy grew up to be a man, he one day left his home with a sword to avenge the death of his family members. On reaching the spot where the temple stands today, he felt tired and sat to take some rest. (In those days there was a very small temple in the same spot, dedicated to some goddess, details of which are not mentioned). Soon from nowhere a small girl appeared in front of the man and offered him some water, and after drinking the same, he suddenly felt very energetic. Then the girl said that to the man, that he will achieve his objective soon. The man wanted to know as to how she knew what he was seeking; the little girl said that she knew everything about the whole world.

The man knew that this was no ordinary girl and fell at her feet and sought directions to achieve his objective. The girl then told him where to go, but put a condition that he should not kill too many people. If he trusted her, then he should kill only one person from the community and the rest would die on their own. On hearing this, the man promised that if this happened then he would return there and offer his head to her. The girl went on to say, that mothers do not like to see the severed heads of their sons, but he should return here once his mission is accomplished.

The man goes to the village he was advised and there he saw a Muslim marriage procession which was going somewhere. He went close to the end of the procession and killed one person and stood on the side. Soon people saw one dead man amongst them and started to blame each other and there was a fight amongst them and soon all were dead – just as mentioned by the girl. The man was happy and came back to the spot where he had met the girl, but didn’t find her. He started calling out for her by calling “Mother, mother”, but the girl was nowhere in sight. Disappointed, he took out his sword and tried to sever his head and then he heard a voice coming from the small temple which said “Stop”. The man saw no one there and tried to kill himself again and he heard the same voice and this went on for three times, till the goddess came forward and held his hand and said – “If you kill yourself, then who will worship me?” and it is said that the man built this temple in the present form.

Every religious sight has a miracle or some story of origin to lend it its relevance or moment of glory. Be it the ‘Shakti-peeths’ or a road-side temple or a religious spot and this one is no different. It is this little divinity which brings it the halo-effect and lends the much needed religious credence. But in this case, the credibility of this temple has some recent occurrences which overshadow the myths mentioned above.

Broken Idols kept on display

The Pakistan border is about 45-50 Kms from this spot. According to the locals and some writings on the walls of the temple premises, during the 1965 war with Pakistan, the Pakistani forces had come close to the temple premises. It is during this time that there were certain miracles that took place. The Pakistani forces tried to destroy the temple and it is said that the forces suddenly started firing at themselves, thus killing all of them. Then some forces who had reached the premises started breaking the idols. When they were stopped by the locals, they did not agree, and continued breaking the idols, but soon the forces started fighting amongst themselves and ended up killing each other. The third time, some of the forces tried to remove the ornaments and the finery of the goddess and each one of them turned blind. At the end of it all, the temple was not destroyed, except for the original idols, which are kept in the premises as a mute witness to history.

Today, the temple has its religious status in the nearby areas, but seems to attract crowd more for the historic appendage which seems to be of more interest to one and all, especially in the much-polarised communal state and the relationship we share with Pakistan.

Next we will discuss another temple which was close by and its association with history, which is not very old and forgotten.

More pictures are available for those interested.

Dhanteras and Chan-Chu

Today is Dhanteras (a day when Goddess Lakshmi is worshipped for prosperity). The relevance of this day and its mythical allusions can be read in my last years article on the same topic (http://utkarshspeak.blogspot.com/2010/11/dhanteras.html).

But today we will not be repeating the same.

On this day of worshipping wealth, I would like to talk about a symbol that many of us use without knowing the meaning or the implication of the same. Many of us have seen the Chinese three-legged toad, which is a common Feng-shui symbol for money or generation of wealth. Do we know more on this? Here’s what you might want to know about it.

The three-legged money toad is known as Chan-Chu in Chinese. It is one of the most popular symbols of wealth and prosperity and found most commonly in households, offices and more so near cash boxes. It is often depicted as a toad, with read bulging eyes and flared nostrils, sitting atop a heap of coins and a single coin in its mouth. The followers of Feng-shui believe that the symbol helps in creating and protection of wealth, besides driving away evil and bringing prosperity.

According to the Chinese myths, the King Money Frog, a mythical king, if seen outsides ones homes on a full moon night, brings good news to the house and this good news could convert into some monetary benefit and thus the association with wealth again. Besides bringing luck and prosperity through wealth, the money frog could also ward away bad-luck which could have been an impediment in wealth creation, again leading to monetary prosperity.

Is there any myth involved in the belief of this? It is important to know that frogs and toads (seen as similar) have been seen as signs of fertility and in many cases as harbingers of rain. In any agrarian society, rains ensure prosperity, which is again associated with wealth.

One of the myths which though is an astronomical myths is associated with the symbol. According to this myth, Ch’ang O, who was the sister of the water spirit married ShenI, who had just got the pill of immortality. However, to use the pill it had to undergo some rituals and so ShenI left for the same. In the absence of her husband, one night Ch’ang O found the pill of immortality and ate it and soon started feeling light and could fly. When ShenI returned and didn’t find the pill he asked his wife about it. Fear struck Ch’ang O and she flew out of the window. ShenI chased her with a bow and arrow, but the stong winds stopped ShenI from chasing Ch’ang O who was flying higher and higher. Ch’ang O soon reached a place as white and snow and a luminous cold place and started feeling sick and started vomiting and in that she vomited the upper covering of the pill of immortality, which was soon converted into a rabbit as white as could be! But this made Ch’ang O immortal and made this cold place, the moon, as her abode. The God of Immortality then spoke to ShenI and rewarded him for his hard work by giving him the Palace of Sun and transformed to be sent to the sun. But as the sun does, he travels round the universe and once in a year goes to his wife who was sad and lonely. It is said that ShenI then built a palace for her and from then onwards, on the fifteenth day of every moon, he went to visit her and on this day, the moon shone in its full brilliance! Later when they reached the heavens they were honored and later depictions have shown both as god and goddess, with ShenI holding the moon and Ch’ang O holding the moon. I guess you are still looking for the toad, right? Well the Chinese mythology adds a sequel to this myth by saying that Ch’ang O was later changed into a toad, the outline of which is still visible on the surface of the moon!

Though the above myth is associated with immortality, the same in the earlier times was a sign of achievement and the end of all woes. Achievement of immortality was in a sense the achievement of the greatest of all wealth, akin to godliness, something that only the gods had. The association of immortality of earlier times with prosperity in modern times is not all that unfound, and the association of prosperity with wealth is definitely not unfound by any standards.

So, on this day of Dhanteras, when tradition dictates one to buy gold and silver, the prices of which is trying to kiss Ch’ang O (i.e. the moon), it might be a good idea to buy the Chinese three-legged toad instead! It might just help you to create enough wealth for you to buy the gold or silver next year!   

On this day, here’s wishing all of you – Happy creation and retention of wealth!

Ides of October

Many of us would have heard about “Beware of the ides of March” which was the warning given to Julius Ceaser and was also the day he was assassinated. According to the Roman calendar ‘ides’ was generally associated with the 15^th of a month and Julius Ceaser was assassinated on 15^th of March.

But what is it about the Ides of October?

The Ides of October was the day when a horse was sacrificed in the honour of the Roman god Mars (Roman god of war). This was an elaborate ritual which started with a two-horse chariot race. The horse on the right side of the winning chariot was sacrificed at the end of the race. Different scholars have given different versions of the sacrifice, but we will write about the most commonly available versions.

Some say that the horse was killed by a spear at the altar of the god Mars. Some mention an elaborate ritual – first the tail was cut off and the blood from the tail was allowed to drip on the altar of the god. The head was also cut off from the body and then decorated with ribbons and other such decorative materials and then hoisted on a spear. Some have mentioned that amongst the decorative materials, cakes made out of bread was also used, giving it a harvest ritual, as grains have been integral to many such rituals.

A justification of such a ritual says that it was through the deception of a horse that Troy was won, and this was a ritual punishment meted out to the animal!

This sacrifice is also referred to as ‘Equus October’, or the October Horse.

Horse sacrifice has been one of the many important sacrifices during the Vedic times and there are many references to Kings conducting Ashwamedha Yagna. In the Vedic times too, the horse running around the kingdoms was sacrificed at the end of the tenure and the run. However, popular mythology has seldom delved in the sacrificial aspects of the Ashwamedha Yagna, except for its running around the different kingdoms who would either accept supremacy of the King conducting the Yagna or wage a war.

This shows the intermingling of cultures and civilizations. Many scholars have said that usage of horses in India was adopted after the Greeks invaded India. The mention of Ashwamedha Yagna during the Vedic times might beg to differ with them. However the similarity of the two events by different names, could lead us to the Indo-European marriage of two very different cultures.

(Details of Ashwamedha Yagna as mentioned in the Vedas is a different detailed subject altogether)